Work

Family environment and prosocial behavior tendency of college students: The chain mediating role of empathy and moral sensitivity

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: In order to explore the influence mechanism of family environment on the prosocial behavior tendency of college students and the chain mediating role of empathy and moral sensitivity in this relationship. METHODS: A survey was conducted on 451 college students using the Family Adaptability and Cohesion scales, the Dispositional Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire, the Prosocial Tendencies Measure and the Chinese Version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index-C. RESULTS: The results showed that empathy and moral sensitivity significantly mediate the effect of family environment on college students' prosocial behavior tendency. This is manifested in three mediation paths: the mediating role of empathy (with 28.57% of the mediating effect), the mediating role of moral sensitivity (with 61.90% of the mediating effect), and the chain mediating role of empathy and moral sensitivity (with 9.53% of the mediating effect). CONCLUSIONS: The study reveals the mechanism by which family environment affects college students' prosocial behavior, which provides some theoretical guidance and practical inspiration for cultivating college students' prosocial behavior.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323375

Authors: Huan Song, Shijie Fan, Yuan Zhao, Yue Wang

Institutions: Neijiang Normal University, Northwest Normal University, Shandong University of Political Science and Law, INTI International University

Language: English

Topic: Values and Moral Education

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,382

Funders: Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, Jilin Office of Philosophy and Social Science